chris81964:

How do I do that?

When you use the highest speed it's equivalent to not saving power. In the case of thermocool inverter AC, h3 is the highest on my 1.5hp and consumes about 1kw of power, with the lowest speed it does about 500w

If you use an LG there is a button called 'Gen mode' middle left of the remote. When you press it (activated) the inverter will slowly ramp up power to peak and then start reducing progressively e.g for a 1hp unit ~1kw in the first 15 minutes would reduce to like 700w after 3 hours and less than 400w after 4 to 5 hours.

The above is ideal for sleeping or cooling a room at night. On a hot sunny day however, it may well not suffice.

So for day time use here in the tropics, disable the Gen mode by successively pressing the button, there is a small white LED light on the LG indoor unit that comes on when Gen mode is active and goes off when inactive. Running the inverter AC with Gen mode OFF gives decent cooling.

There is also a Jet mode button opposite the Gen mode. Use this to rapidly cool a room e.g just got back home on a hot afternoon and windows all shut and house is stuffy.

So at night activate Gen mode, during the day disable Gen mode and you will get decent cooling all round.

Use Jet mode only for rapid cooling of a room - process takes about 30 minutes and consumes more power and thereafter run as normal mode (Gen mode disabled) or enable Gen mode on a cool day/night.

chris81964:

How do I do that?

ojeysky:


You did not indicate the wattage of the bulbs which will better inform on whether 4800WH will be sufficient backup.
That said I don't think there is need for the bold, get the felicity 48v 5kva instead and run 3s4p instead, if the 48v 3kva felicity can do 3s4p then that will be cheaper option.

Oga and the rest of the house, i am a newbie on solar matters but trying to do some investment in solar power (off grid).
30 x 380w tier 1 solar panels (mono)
10kva 180V inverter (sukam)
180 V MPPT Charge controller 80A (but I am still searching for 100A but its scarce unlessi order on alibaba but time is not my friend here)
15 batteries of 200ah each and 12v (tubular)
How best can I set up the panels in parallel and in series to harness maximum a available energy from the panels as I have observed that you guys are particular about how the panels are connected. What is the best way of monitoring my the performance of my set-up, any recommended monitoring device? 3S10P?
Note we plan use 4mm cable from the panel to the CC but i am skeptical about this but the technician says it is adequate since it is DC.

Please help on this situation.

I have two 200AH battery, and I observed that when it shows low battery, one battery will be reading 10.5V and another 12.2V. They were both charged fully.

My concern is why is the inverter not drawing consumption evenly from both batteries. Thank you.

Have you already purchased all this BOM?

I see issues with a 180v inverter, a 180v CC and stringing 15 units of 12v batteries in series.

Best go for 48v inverter suitably sized as well as a good quality CC made for 12v/24v/48v on the battery side. There is a very good reason why most value and premium RE equipment peak out max 48vDC nominal voltage on the battery side.

Where I see issues;
1) Battery pack balancing with 15 pieces of 12v batteries in series. That is 15 potential points of failure on the batteries alone and the difficulty of finding a purpose built balancer or replacing a bad battery without changing the whole battery bank. This is especially true for 12v batteries but as you say you have tubular batteries there is hope.

2) 180v CC may be PWM and not MPPT as advertised. I expect a much higher operating voltage range with a CC designed to charge a 180v nominal battery bank - your mileage may vary.

3) 180v inverters tend to be those India origin inverters. I see them as little more than glorified UPS with generally subpar charging algorithms and poor surge handling capabilities.

If your purchases are not already locked perhaps the house can give better suggestions especially if you supply intended load, run hours and other parameters.

danowena:


Oga and the rest of the house, i am a newbie on solar matters but trying to do some investment in solar power (off grid).
30 x 380w tier 1 solar panels (mono)
10kva 180V inverter (sukam)
180 V MPPT Charge controller 80A (but I am still searching for 100A but its scarce unlessi order on alibaba but time is not my friend here)
15 batteries of 200ah each and 12v (tubular)
How best can I set up the panels in parallel and in series to harness maximum a available energy from the panels as I have observed that you guys are particular about how the panels are connected. What is the best way of monitoring my the performance of my set-up, any recommended monitoring device?
Note we plan use 4mm cable from the panel to the CC but i am skeptical about this but the technician says it is adequate since it is DC.

Abdomox:
Please help on this situation.

I have two 200AH battery, and I observed that when it shows low battery, one battery will be reading 10.5V and another 12.2V. They were both charged fully.

My concern is why is the inverter not drawing consumption evenly from both batteries. Thank you.

Are the batteries the same make? Do they have same production date?

cell7:


Are the batteries the same make? Do they have same production date?

Yes, they are same make (Luminous), and bought same date at Simba in Surulere, 10 months ago.

Production date is not written on them though.

Abdomox:
Please help on this situation.

I have two 200AH battery, and I observed that when it shows low battery, one battery will be reading 10.5V and another 12.2V. They were both charged fully.

My concern is why is the inverter not drawing consumption evenly from both batteries. Thank you.

What is the brand and capacity of your inverter?

Abdomox:


Yes, they are same make (Luminous), and bought same date at Simba in Surulere, 10 months ago.

Production date is not written on them though.

One cell is likely dead or shorted in the lower voltage battery.

Likely cause:
- charging or discharging regularly at more than 60A.
- overcharging or overdischarging
- recycled battery

danowena:


Oga and the rest of the house, i am a newbie on solar matters but trying to do some investment in solar power (off grid).
30 x 380w tier 1 solar panels (mono)
10kva 180V inverter (sukam)
180 V MPPT Charge controller 80A (but I am still searching for 100A but its scarce unlessi order on alibaba but time is not my friend here)
15 batteries of 200ah each and 12v (tubular)
How best can I set up the panels in parallel and in series to harness maximum a available energy from the panels as I have observed that you guys are particular about how the panels are connected. What is the best way of monitoring my the performance of my set-up, any recommended monitoring device? 3S10P?
Note we plan use 4mm cable from the panel to the CC but i am skeptical about this but the technician says it is adequate since it is DC.

I will suggest 2 options:

Option 1: Get 3 5kva hybrid inverters with parallel function and put 10x380w panel on each
Or Get 2 5kva hybrid inverters with parallel function and run 14x380w panel on each. However the former is better and will give you enough flexibility.

Option 2: Get 2 fangpusun flexmax 80A and use it with the luminous, if you have not yet bought that big man I will suggest that you reconsider the kind of standalone inverter to use, especially on power efficiency. Or go victron if you have the muscle

Panel configuration and battery config will be dependent on kind of inverter/cc you are getting. I see you mentioned tabular, how about LFP

As to monitoring it also depends on the option you decide to go, let us know which route you want to go and we can advice.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
Have you already purchased all this BOM?

I see issues with a 180v inverter, a 180v CC and stringing 15 units of 12v batteries in series.

Best go for 48v inverter suitably sized as well as a good quality CC made for 12v/24v/48v on the battery side. There is a very good reason why most value and premium RE equipment peak out max 48vDC nominal voltage on the battery side.

Where I see issues;
1) Battery pack balancing with 15 pieces of 12v batteries in series. That is 15 potential points of failure on the batteries alone and the difficulty of finding a purpose built balancer or replacing a bad battery without changing the whole battery bank. This is especially true for 12v batteries but as you say you have tubular batteries there is hope.

2) 180v CC may be PWM and not MPPT as advertised. I expect a much higher operating voltage range with a CC designed to charge a 180v nominal battery bank - your mileage may vary.

3) 180v inverters tend to be those India origin inverters. I see them as little more than glorified UPS with generally subpar charging algorithms and poor surge handling capabilities.

If your purchases are not already locked perhaps the house can give better suggestions especially if you supply intended load, run hours and other parameters.

Thanks a lot for your prompt response. You have given me a lot of insight.
For your response:
1. How can i get a battery bank balancer that will suit my design.
2. My technician said same - that it is likely a pwm but another tech said YOHAKO brand has it. Are u suggesting i go for 192v cc
3. You are right, the inverter is indian but i am scared of the chinese ones that seem to fry at heavy load.

Only the inverter has been locked. Load is for a duplex, 1 freezer, 2 fridges, 2 AC (1.5hp), 4 standing fans,20 light points(15 Watts each), 16 cctv cameras, 1 pumping machine.
Can i use tubular batteries offgrid? Someone said i can't as it will give issues.

Abdomox:


Yes, they are same make (Luminous), and bought same date at Simba in Surulere, 10 months ago.

Production date is not written on them though.

I don't think they are of same age... it's better to buy batteries with production dates or serial number written on them. With that in mind you can buy batteries of same production batch with same life span.

NiyiOmoIyunade:
If you use an LG there is a button called 'Gen mode' middle left of the remote. When you press it (activated) the inverter will slowly ramp up power to peak and then start reducing progressively e.g for a 1hp unit ~1kw in the first 15 minutes would reduce to like 700w after 3 hours and less than 400w after 4 to 5 hours.

Use Jet mode only for rapid cooling of a room - process takes about 30 minutes and consumes more power and thereafter run as normal mode (Gen mode disabled) or enable Gen mode on a cool day/night.

The highlighted is quite strange, in the case of GenPal it doesn't have such high surge, it starts low and ramps up gradually. Your attached picture also reminds me of my GenPal turbo option, though I found it to be equivalent of L3 on the gen modes. The difference is that it surges from start and then ramps down after a a while of cooling

omotoda:


What is the brand and capacity of your inverter?

Brand of Inverter is Treshold, 1.5Kva (Transformer Inverter)

cell7:



I don't think they are of same age... it's better to buy batteries with production dates or serial number written on them. With that in mind you can buy batteries of same production batch with same life span.

The serial numbers are written on them.

One ends with 2661 and another 3005.

The 3005 is the one reading 10.5V

mank1234:


One cell is likely dead or shorted in the lower voltage battery.

Likely cause:
- charging or discharging regularly at more than 60A.
- overcharging or overdischarging
- recycled battery

The inverter system shows an indicator when fully charged and beeps if battery gets low. Since I bought it, it has only beeped like 3 times, and I switchoff immediately. So, it can't overcharge or overdischarge.

Please how can one be certain if it's dead cell or it was shorted?

Abdomox:


The inverter system shows an indicator when fully charged and beeps if battery gets low. Since I bought it, it has only beeped like 3 times, and I switchoff immediately. So, it can't overcharge or overdischarge.

Please how can one be certain if it's dead cell or it was shorted?

Charge it fully, measure voltage of each battery immediately inverter stops charging.
Disconnect charging source, and put on your normal load, measure the voltage again.
If there's a huge drop of voltage of one battery, it means one cell is dead. Else it could be you just need to balance the batteries.

Hi Danowena,

If you haven't already procured the equipment then my advice is to tow the line of 48V dc. It is the standard for small offgrid installs as well as telecommunications standard. It's easier to source for equipment that are rated at between 12- 48v dc than larger voltages.

Preferably the 48Vdc range offers you many possibilities. You could design your batteries in banks of 4's and since you are looking at 15 units of batteries, you could either round up to 16 units, so you have 4 battery banks of 4 batteries in series or scale down to 12units that is 3 banks of 4 batteries in series . This is particularly helpful in case one battery bank fails, the remaining could still power your load.
The major problem of having 15 batteries in series is this, one defective battery will shut down the entire system and in such a case, you might want to change the entire batteries.

Maintenance wise, you are better off with a 48Vdc system. If you get a 10KVA, 48Vdc inverter that will be great, else 2 units of 5KVA 48vdc can be cascaded to give 10KVA.

As per the panel config, if you are using a 48vdc based MPPT charge controller, it all depends on the open circuit voltage Voc of the charge controller. A typical 60A MPPT will have a max Voc of 150. You could try the Victron 250 |100A which allows you to have more panels in series but comes at a premium.

There many possibilities it really depends on what you want to achieve. You could contact any of the professionals in here to help with detailed designs based on your load consumption.

I hope this has been helpful

danowena:


Oga and the rest of the house, i am a newbie on solar matters but trying to do some investment in solar power (off grid).
30 x 380w tier 1 solar panels (mono)
10kva 180V inverter (sukam)
180 V MPPT Charge controller 80A (but I am still searching for 100A but its scarce unlessi order on alibaba but time is not my friend here)
15 batteries of 200ah each and 12v (tubular)
How best can I set up the panels in parallel and in series to harness maximum a available energy from the panels as I have observed that you guys are particular about how the panels are connected. What is the best way of monitoring my the performance of my set-up, any recommended monitoring device? 3S10P?
Note we plan use 4mm cable from the panel to the CC but i am skeptical about this but the technician says it is adequate since it is DC.

Flooded batteries come with it's own peculiarity. Constant topping of the electrolyte and equalizing. Like I say to any client that wants to go that route, " if you are comfortable with the constant attention that flooded batteries require, then by all means you can go for them". From experience, they never have the time to monitor the batteries and before you know what, the batteries are gone.

That why the sealed maintenance free SMF batteries are more expensive. AGM and GEL are also lead-acid batteries you can get. However, if cash is not a problem, you can go for the Lithium ion batteries that come with BMS, have more cycles and give you rest of mind.

I hope this helps.

danowena:


Thanks a lot for your prompt response. You have given me a lot of insight.
For your response:
1. How can i get a battery bank balancer that will suit my design.
2. My technician said same - that it is likely a pwm but another tech said YOHAKO brand has it. Are u suggesting i go for 192v cc
3. You are right, the inverter is indian but i am scared of the chinese ones that seem to fry at heavy load.

Only the inverter has been locked. Load is for a duplex, 1 freezer, 2 fridges, 2 AC (1.5hp), 4 standing fans,20 light points(15 Watts each), 16 cctv cameras, 1 pumping machine.
Can i use tubular batteries offgrid? Someone said i can't as it will give issues.

mank1234:

Charge it fully, measure voltage of each battery immediately inverter stops charging.
Disconnect charging source, and put on your normal load, measure the voltage again.
If there's a huge drop of voltage of one battery, it means one cell is dead. Else it could be you just need to balance the batteries.

Thanks, will do this. But must they be fully charged before doing this test?

Abdomox:


Thanks, will do this. But must they be fully charged before doing this test?

Yes.
Reason: the one at 10.5V is already fully drained and would not be fully charged when your charging source is saying battery is full.

Premium advice for free

mank1234:


Yes.
Reason: the one at 10.5V is already fully drained and would not be fully charged when your charging source is saying battery is full.

Oh. Very valid point.

I think it's best I take them to all these technicians to help charge them separately, so the batteries can read samething. Or do you think my inverter can correct this anomaly?

Israelicc:


I hope this helps.

Very helpful. Thanks for both posts.

A fully charged battery at 4:30 pm with my charge controller reading 100% and as at 7:30 it drops to 70%... with the inverter switched off... is the battery bad... I use a 12v 200ah single battery hooked to two panels....

zinodizt:
A fully charged battery at 4:30 pm with my charge controller reading 100% and as at 7:30 it drops to 70%... with the inverter switched off... is the battery bad... I use a 12v 200ah single battery hooked to two panels....

Did it start doing this of late or that's always been the backup duration you get since the battery got installed?

Your load too is a determining factor, that's assuming that the battery is in excellent condition. So you might wanna look into the loads too.

You did not mention the ratings of your panel, but whatever it is I assume that your panels working to charge the battery during sun hours is likely sufficient to sustain your battery at full SoC with or without loads on the system but soon as the sun goes down by around 6pm or insolation starts to drop at around 5pm, the battery takes over hence the percentage drop, the rate and rapidity of which is dependent on the loads.

zinodizt:
A fully charged battery at 4:30 pm with my charge controller reading 100% and as at 7:30 it drops to 70%... with the inverter switched off... is the battery bad... I use a 12v 200ah single battery hooked to two panels....

How did you determine the drop to 70%? if you had load on then that won't give you accurate information. It's also possible that your battery is not fully charged when you think it was, one way to check is to isolate charging when your inverter reports 100% and then confirm if it's same 100%.

It's also possible that your inverter is consuming a lot on idle though should not be over 30% in 3hrs

zinodizt:
A fully charged battery at 4:30 pm with my charge controller reading 100% and as at 7:30 it drops to 70%... with the inverter switched off... is the battery bad... I use a 12v 200ah single battery hooked to two panels....

Most inverters use same algorithm (voltage based) for determining state of charge of battery. This is usually inaccurate. Use meter and measure the voltage and compare with expected voltage vs capacity chart.

If your 70% is consistent with the chart, it means your battery is getting old and has started loosing some of its capacity by 30%.

It's also possible the settings of your charge controller is not allowing the battery to charge to actual 100% even though it's showing 100%

It’s two 250v solar panels and this happens without any load on the system since my inverter is turned off. I only switched it on at 7:30 and the drop to 70% is almost instantly and it further drops to 50% then from 50% downward it takes longer for it to drop. Moreover the battery is just about 6months old... I don’t know if it’s bad already... Although I had a faulty charge controller I just got a new one and I noticed this... I mostly use four lights and charge laptop with it I don’t use fans or my TV with it since it will drain fast.. I don’t know if a 12v 200ah battery can do better than what mine is currently giving me. I had issues with the charge controller from when I installed the system a few months ago.. I need advice on what to do.

ceaser:


Did it start doing this of late or that's always been the backup duration you get since the battery got installed?

Your load too is a determining factor, that's assuming that the battery is in excellent condition. So you might wanna look into the loads too.

You did not mention the ratings of your panel, but whatever it is I assume that your panels working to charge the battery during sun hours is likely sufficient to sustain your battery at full SoC with or without loads on the system but soon as the sun goes down by around 6pm or insolation starts to drop at around 5pm, the battery takes over hence the percentage drop, the rate and rapidity of which is dependent on the loads.

zinodizt:
It’s two 250v solar panels and this happens without any load on the system since my inverter is turned off. I only switched it on at 7:30 and the drop to 70% is almost instantly and it further drops to 50% then from 50% downward it takes longer for it to drop. Moreover the battery is just about 6months old... I don’t know if it’s bad already... Although I had a faulty charge controller I just got a new one and I noticed this... I mostly use four lights and charge laptop with it I don’t use fans or my TV with it since it will drain fast.. I don’t know if a 12v 200ah battery can do better than what mine is currently giving me. I had issues with the charge controller from when I installed the system a few months ago.. I need advice on what to do.

I understand the batteries are 12v in series. I think as someone said, you might wanna use multimeter to check the true voltages of the battery to be sure the percentage voltage indicator on your device is correct and does not need calibration.

Take measurements of the batteries when it's full and take measurements at different discharge states comparing it to a SoC chart (available online). The fact that you just changed your SCC may mean that the faulty one before it was changed has had some negative effects on the battery bank or the new one do not/is not programmed to take the battery thru the necessary stages of charging and does not even charge it to full, reason you need to use a multeter to measure the voltages when it shows 100% full.

There is a BTS PSW inverter that I just gave out. When it's charging lead acid chemistry batteries, 100% ranges from 13.5v to14.5v while 80% is at 12.8v. When it's not charging, it sees 12.8v as 100% and 12.6v as 80%. It's a little different when it's on 12v LFP though. So the voltage used as SoC in these things is not the gold standard.

Your loads don't seem to be much and 24v 100ah dropping that fast on 60 watts laptop needs some diagnostics. It's advisable that you decipher what the problem truly is before you conclude it's battery and going ahead to change the batteries.

What kind of SCC do you have installed?

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